A mother to three lovely girls, Samia Asif used to teach kindergarten in Pakistan before shifting permanently to Beijing in 2006.  She co-owns Mughals, the Pakistani restaurant, in Nali Patio. Samia is a fabulous cook often introducing and approving new menu additions at the restaurant. Some of the dishes served therefore are her signature recipes.
Having spent three years in Beijing earlier, from 2000-2003, Samia considers Beijing her home and is comfortably fluent in Chinese. She is excited to pitch in with Pakistani Cooking since many of her frequent customers regularly ask her for recipes.

Maryam enjoys the fact that she seldom fits any pigeonholes that generalisations may impose. If your impressions of Pakistanis have only been fed by news, come meet her.

Maryam Afnan boasts a varied background including: a stint as a radio DJ for english music; a door to door researcher; props for plays; newspaper features; working with some of the best MNCs, including ACCA and Nestle Pakistan; consulting with startups and Visiting faculty at undergraduate level for one of the best universities in Pakistan. She is also a full time mother to two.

She has an MBA degree in Marketing, from one of the top universities in Pakistan; and has both marketed and initiated trainings. Being an enthusiastic people’s person, one of her key strengths is public speaking and communications. This skill set, she has been grooming for the past 15 years, consistently setting targets and testing herself.

After spending most of 2006 in Beijing, Maryam came back in 2007 with husband and two children. A year’s self-imposed sabbatical to settle her newborn son, and her daughter followed. During this period, she furthered her knowledge of cooking. Her area of interest is the process and techniques that ensure perfect flavors.

Maryam is currently involved in VIVA, Professional Womens Network as Membership Liaison Manager; Secretary of the fledgeling Pakistani Women’s Association, Beijing; working on a book project with a group of moms and freelancing occasionally.

At the Hutong she will be introducing Pakistani cooking. Later she will also introduce a training based on her Smart Speak methodology: Public Speaking as a route to Confidence.

With all this activity, she also juggles painting and works on her Chinese.

Susie has a Graduate Diploma in Network Computing and a passion for technology and small businesses. She has been working as a freelance website developer for the past 3 years and living in Beijing for 6 years. She’s worked on websites with many small business owners in the Beijing Expat community, specialising in creating websites that owners can easily update themselves, as well as setting up systems to manage online event registrations, membership requests, class enrolments and many more.

As someone who has spent most of her time working in or with small businesses, she has a good understanding of the unique issues often facing small businesses. She’s also focused on helping less-technical people get the most out of their web presence by explaining things in a non-technical way.

Sandra has worked, eaten and explored her way around the world. She has threatened the duck population in the Dordogne and has mouth-watering plans for the fatty pigs across China.

Sandra balances her work in education and international development with experimenting in the kitchen, freelance writing, and her job as editor of www.savourasia.com, an online guide dedicated to all that is good to eat in Hanoi, Beijing, Bangkok and beyond.

Flora Kong has her own understanding of children’s art education. Rather than teaching children crafts and technics, more emphasis is put on liberal art creation according to children’s nature, their imagination and originality which is inspired by their unique personality.
Flora Kong has a bachelor degree in art and has been teaching art for many years. Flora enjoys introducing Chinese art to children from all over the world.

Samantha studied Fine Art at university in her native England. Fine Art continues to be the main focus of her interests and she first came to The Hutong to join the life-drawing group. After graduating from Art school she worked for a photographic company. It was during this time that she learnt to use Photoshop both as an editing tool for photography and as a design program.
Having always wanted to see the world but not in a fly-by-night back packer style, she decided to come to China to live. After a few hiccups with visas and getting stranded in Hong Kong, Samantha made it to Beijing a year and a half ago and continues to enjoy living in the city, meeting new people and learning about the Chinese art scene.

Lily started the Kindermusik experience with her first son, Lachlan back in Sydney, Australia in year 2006. She returned to her home city, Beijing in late 2006 and found it hard to locate a Kindermusik program in Beijing close to her. So she took the task to her own hands and became a licensed educator in early 2008, since then she has provided Kindermusik, the best music and movement program in the world to hundreds of families both local and from overseas. Her international family background combined with her rich experience in sales and marketing management roles in the past 10 years have made her a strong individual to operate and grow Kindermusik program successfully in Beijing. She is now a mother for two boys and hoping her life with joy both in and outside of the Kindermusik class can inspire more and more families and children in China. She invites everyone who loves children and music, to join her together and make the difference.

Joel’s pre-Beijing life includes his training in the culinary arts back in Montreal, Canada along with several years running exports of various consumer electronics goods. After that,  a long voyage through Asia with the primary goal of eating finally comes to an end in Beijing. A dangerous focus on food leads to a great access for language study, further paving the way for a great new complementary obsession: Chinese tea. Within a very short while, all traces of consumer electronics export have been entirely replaced with sourcing the best of the best Chinese teas for his company Anjing Teas. Five years later, the food, tea and language all mix for an important foundation of Joel’s involvement at the Hutong. Here he is responsible for leading numerous tea-arts learning and tea touring programs, as well as various cooking classes and catering for events at the Hutong.  When Joel isn’t at home cooking, he is most certainly serving tea and cooking at the Hutong.

Samella is originally from Mauritius. Thanks to her travels to many countries in Asia, she learnt different healing techniques and decided to focus on helping and sharing her knowledge with others (and stopped her IT work).

She is a Reiki Master/teacher (she can give Reiki treatment and teach the art of Reiki) learnt in India. She is a multi-skilled massage therapist/teacher (Swedish massage, Indian Head massage, Hot stone massage, and Western Reflexology with certification from CIBTAC – International Education Standard), trained by Valerie Demery during her stay in Hong-Kong. She also works with KHREM also known as SEKHEM (another energy healing technique from Egypt).

She has been leaving in Beijing since 2008 and is always ready to exchange on natural healing techniques and their benefits.

Roger hails from an unusual hybrid background, encapsulating formal studies in drawing and painting to a career in the Information Technologies business.
He has lived and worked in such diverse environments as New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpor, Warsaw and Bangkok. Having lived full time in Asia since 1997, Roger has a comprehensive perspective on the region and its culture, enabling him along the way to gain critical insights into the many different business practices, societies, and cultures needed to function effectively in this international arena.
Upon arriving in China in the later part of the 90ies,his passion for Interior design, Asian decor and antique furniture, led him to eventually abandon the business of computers for a full time adventure in Chinese culture.
Leaving the technology scene behind where things change by the minute, today Roger works along side local artisans and craftsmen, in a place where 50 years is still considered “new;” Presently he manages the ACF China Co., where he works with importers, collectors, dealers and enthusiasts around the globe, to find, restore and export antique to homes where they will be loved and appreciated.
Throughout his travels, he has personally handled thousands of antique furniture pieces, from researching to buying to restoring to collecting.
Roger is both a native English speaker, as well as Mandarin Chinese.
For a first hand, unique insider’s look at world of Chinese antique furniture visit the specialists guide to Chinese antiques at

http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/

Susie has a Graduate Diploma in Network Computing and a passion for technology and small businesses. She has been working as a freelance website developer for the past 3 years and living in Beijing for 6 years. She’s worked on websites with many small business owners in the Beijing Expat community, specialising in creating websites that owners can easily update themselves, as well as setting up systems to manage online event registrations, membership requests, class enrolments and many more.
As someone who has spent most of her time working in or with small businesses, she has a good understanding of the unique issues often facing small businesses. She’s also focused on helping less-technical people get the most out of their web presence by explaining things in a non-technical way.

As a chef and culinarian, Jeffery Scott Powell brings over 20 years of experience to The Culinary Field. His menus showcase the rich, vibrant flavors of the season, and preparations are kept simple to ensure the purity of local ingredients.  He often forages for ingredients and supervises the Growing of many of the ingredients that appear in his dishes
Powell, 41, was born and raised in Nampa, Idaho, USA.  His curiosity for cooking began at a very early age, leading him to spend hours in the kitchen watching his mother and grandmother prepare the family meals.  At the age of eight his mother gave the young chef his first cookbook, and before long Powell was preparing dinner for the family once a week.  Culinary passions ignited as he prepared his favorite dishes, including pizza and hamburgers, (and mastered gourmet soups and pastas shortly thereafter) for his family.
Powell pursued his love for cooking by taking home economics and restaurant management classes in middle and high school.  At the age of fourteen he held his first restaurant job as a dishwasher at a local restaurant and was quickly promoted to line cook.  Aspiring to become a professional chef, Powell moved to Los Angeles, California at the age of 20 and he held several positions from kitchen manager to Sous chef.
In 1990 Powell was lured to San Francisco, California for its reputation as a culinary Mecca.  He gained invaluable experience at such noted restaurants as Lulu, Stars Oakville Cafe, Stars Restaurant, Rose Pistola, Red Herring, and Kuletoâes Trattoria. The draw of the mountains near San Francisco Reminded Jeffery of his Home in Idaho and he made the decision to accept the position as Executive Chef at PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn in Squaw Valley, California.
The restaurant was awarded best food for a North American ski resort by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine readers in December 2001.  Other awards included:  received a 4 star review from the Sacramento Bee Newspaper, December 2002; voted best restaurant in Lake Tahoe by Citysearch Readers Poll 2002, and same in 2003; awarded Gold Medal, People’s Choice for both Food and the Marriage of Food & Wine, Lake Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival, Fall 2003; awarded Gold Medal, Marriage of Food & Wine, and Bronze Medal for Food, Lake Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival, Fall 2002; awarded Gold Medals for both Food and the Marriage of Food & Wine, Lake Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival, 2001.
In early 2003 Mr. Powell received a request by The Smithsonian Institute to contribute to it’s sustainable Seafood cookbook where he contributed three recipes. He shared this honor with such noted chef’s as Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali, Rick Bayless, Thomas Keller, Julia Child, Charlie Palmer, Charlie Trotter, Roy Yamaguchi and numerous others.
In early 2005, Powell Joined the Team at the Orchard to Continue Improving the restaurants reputation and cuisine. While at The Orchard Powell garnered the reputation as a leading chef in the Beijing market and received several awards from the readers of That’s Beijing a very popular monthly English language magazine. In 2005 the restaurant received and award for best outdoor dinning and In 2006 the restaurant received an award for best Sunday brunch, best place to impress visitors, and a first runner up award for outstanding restaurant of the year.
Early 2008 Chef Powell joined the team at Element Fresh as Culinary director where he is today. Mr. Powell’s seasonal fresh approach to food seemed to be just the right thing for the Busy and Trendy Restaurant Company. Powell’s menus are well received and the restaurant company is more popular than ever.
Powell approaches food with simple preparations and pays specific attention to the flavors and textures of his dishes.  He is most passionate about Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, Italian, Modern American, Chinese and Southwestern U.S. cuisines, and these influences are evident in his diverse menus.  A few of his specialties include braised Kobe Beef short ribs with Wasabi mashed potatoes and vegetable confetti; shaved artichoke salad with Arugula, parmesan and crispy Prosciutto; wood oven roast Dungeness crab; pan seared Mahi Mahi with Thai yellow curry noodles, baby pak choi, sweet Chile rock shrimp, and green papaya carrot salad; and sassafras brined pork loin with grits, chayote, and Chipotle glaze, Lamb Merguez with poached quail egg and Hollandaise, Himalayan Truffle custard in Eggshell with Green garlic and thyme.
In his free time Powell enjoys spending time with his wife, wild mushroom gathering, Rock Climbing, Riding his Motorcycle, Hiking and fly-fishing.  He currently resides in Beijing with his wife Zhao Rui and their son Nathan.

Personal Profile
Favorite Fine Food:  Truffles, foie gras, morel mushrooms, Kobe Beef, Monkfish
Favorite Junk Food:  In-N-Out Burgers
Favorite Kitchen Implements: micro plane, oyster knife, Mac French Knife
Favorite Reading:   M.F.K. Fisher, Anthony Bourdain, Reed Hearon, and Jeremiah Tower
Favorite Cookbooks: Lulus Provencal Table by Richard Olney, Bouchon by Thomas Keller, Four Star Desserts by Emily Luchetti, Jeremiah Tower’s New American Classics, One Fish Two Fish Crawfish Bluefish, Art Culinaire.
Favorite Quote: There is more in us than we know.  If we can be made to see it, perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle for less.

Kurt Hahn

A self-taught cook, who loves cooking and trying new cuisines. Having lived in various parts of India, familiar with various regional cuisines. Has been living in Beijing for the past 18 months and familiar with local spices too. Loves to teach and talk about the various facets of Indian cooking. Especially the use of spices which is so quintessentially Indian. From ginger tea to fish in mustard sauce…its all about getting the sequence and quantity right.

An N is a Graphic designer and Chinese Painting artist. She graduated from the Art Painting Dept. of Kunming University of Science & Technology in 2002. In
2005 she graduated from the Visual Art major of Central Academy of Fines Arts
She has created her own Design Studio.  Her Chinese Painting Workshops introduce you  to the elements of visual arts in China and the beauty of traditional elegance.

Chen Long, often referred to as a “Walking Stomach,” comes to us from Hunan province, where the food is spicy — and the girls are even spicier. She learned to have fun with a wok in her mother’s kitchen. Her easy-to-make food is spicy and healthy, and most importantly, will dance upon your tongue!

Ever since sipping his first cup of fresh green tea on Yellow Mt. Mark has found the tea trail of life unfolding for him in China. The idea of creating a space conducive for people to access the best of what China has to offer is an exciting prospect. If you’re like me and you like to learn through interaction rather than more passive learning, The Hutong might be for you. We want to offer a space to run courses allowing foreigners to ‘go deeper’ and take from the course skills they will use and remember – a learning centre! Mark is yet to offer his course on foldup bike mechanics but stay tuned…you never know!

Celestina Swanson is the co-owner of Swansisters Authentic Chinese Teas, a boutique tea company based in California, USA.  She has spent the past few years immersed in Chinese tea culture, and is passionate about sharing her knowledge with others.

In addition to sourcing organic and hand-made artisan teas for her company Celestina teaches tea courses and promotes tea tours.

Lillian Chou was a food editor for Gourmet for nearly 6 years where she developed recipes, menus, and wrote for the magazine, award winning Gourmet cookbooks, and Gourmet.com. Before joining Gourmet, Chou had been involved in almost every aspect of the food world. With more than 20 years experience, she has been a restaurant consultant, food writer, food stylist, recipe developer, culinary instructor, restaurant cook, caterer, and pastry chef. In 2001 she was presenter for Chefs in the City, a 20-episode cooking show, that aired in Great Britain, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and Scandinavia. Chou created the recipes for Chocolate Bar: Recipes and Entertaining Ideas for Living the Sweet Life, published in 2004. She has most recently collaborated with Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery on his upcoming book.

Born in Brooklyn, Chou began her career working in her auntie’s Chinese restaurant in Northern New Jersey and many restaurants later, as a pastry chef, working with Jacques Torres at Le Cirque in New York, before moving to Asia, where she lived and worked for 8 years in Korea, Japan, and Singapore. It was in Korea, when she was at first unable to find decent Chinese food, that Chou, whose parents emigrated from China, began to explore her own culinary roots, mining her memory of family dishes and recreating them. She has traveled the world cooking her way through with chefs, villagers and everything in between and has worked with legendary chefs Alain Ducasse, Alain Senderens, and Pierre Hermé. Chou has an A.O.S in Culinary and Pastry Arts and Restaurant Management.

Amy Bolger

What keeps Amy most interested in the nerdy world of IT is not the computers, but the People who use them. Hard to believe for a geek, but with 10 years studying and working in IT, Amy found that she had a knack for turning that confusing IT jargon into meaningful lingo for everyday computer users.

When she’s not in front of a computer, she’s off seeing the world with her beloved canon and settling into life in The Jing.

Lukas Birk

Is an Austrian photographer and multi-media artist. He has worked for prominent magazines and newspapers such as Time Out London, The New Statesman, Royal Geographic Society
and travel guide-books around the globe. He also published a book about tourism to Afghanistan called Kafkanistan and has shown his artwork in numerous exhibitions on three continents. Lukas has been sharing his photographic experiences with over 200 students in the last 1 1/2 year in Beijing.

www.lukasbirk.com/workshops for info on all workshops

http://www.lukasbirk.com/workshopblog

workshop blog for students with comments and feedback

www.lukasbirk.com / Lukas’s art work website

the whole workshop content is online

http://lukasbirk.com/workshops/photography.html#photo1

Alex Tan has a degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and has practiced Qi Gong for more than ten years. With a passion for preventative health practices, Alex travelled to China where he has been living, travelling, studying and working for the past few years.

Alex believes the true treasures of TCM lie in its greater focus on preventative health, wellness and lifestyle practices and less about ‘reactive’, clinical medicine. The key focus of this approach is about learning how we can live in accordance with nature to avoid illness and disease. His aim is to help you discover the transformative powers of Eastern Health practices for restoring and maintaining balance, health and happiness.

Alex is a native English speaker with a Chinese heritage who understands the ‘non-Asian’ perspective and will encourage informal questions, an interactive environment and open discussion.

道 气 阴阳 五行

Eva Chan is a portrait photographer and your quintessential global nomad. Originally from Hong Kong, Eva spent her youth between Hong Kong and Canada before furthering her education in Florence, Italy and New York. Her work primarily focuses on travel and customized portraiture, where she brings together a unique blend of photojournalism and fine art photography.

Eva will be teaching a basic Photography course on Tuesday evenings 7 – 9 pm

She is also available for private tuition